Chapter 23: The Shade of the Night
Synopsis Tower of Tarquaron, Rooftop Urashima meets the group and gets a recap of the events that happened. She says that the golden chains are gone from the Tarqaron, meaning Ouma already left but she saw a small aircraft leave the area. It left for the Balrog, so the others decide to give chase. Yuri, Flynn, and Estelle join up with them to return the favor. Future, In the Skies above Earth After heading through the rift, they get close to the Balrog as they detect a heat signature from it's boosters. After seeing the Balrog on the screen, they're surprised to see how big it is. Hiryu suggests entering from the rear as there is a hatch that leads inside. Urashima is pretty confident in catching up to the giant battleship as they begin catching up. The Balrog suddenly picks up speed and the jets are hampering their movement, but the doctor has an ace up her sleeve: she can override the jet's output limits, but it's voice-activated so she calls X to unlock it but no avail. After which, she has Reiji come over and call out the password. "Emergency boosters, activate!" It lands on the rear deck, barely. They disembark and Hiryu shows them the hatch...where Tong Pooh and Solo come to greet them. Seems Bison didn't return to the ship, but they were instead expecting Ouma to return hence why the ship came from here. Not letting them destroy the ship easily, she calls out some Aragami but they remain unfazed as they begin their assault. After killing one of the psions, they decide to hit the development dock before more can be made. As the battle wore on, Tong Pooh calls out reinforcements, including God Arc Soldiers, Tyrants, and Mavericks. After the Marduk goes down, Alisa is surprised how they could recreate psions as well. Just then, some Vectors appear along with Kurohagane and Hayato. He still seemed evil the last time they saw him, but it seems that Tong Pooh was the one who helped him recover. They are targeting the Dragonturtle, but the engine's overheated from the emergency boosters and she's now a sitting Dragonturtle. But then, KOS-MOS detects a heat signature approaching from behind. A stealth plane crashes into it and another ninja appears: Hibana, along with some enemies as well. She was on a mission when a rift opened up in her time and she somehow flew into the Balrog's airspace. Kurohagane somehow made the plane out of control, which caused her to crash. She explains that the cyborg was from her time, and it was made to retrieve the Akujiki. She decides to help out the heroes to make up for crashing the fight. Tong Pooh retreats before HIryu gets the chance to finish it. Kurohagane is destroyed after an intense battle, and though Hotsuma questions Hibana about it, he decides to just follow his own path for now. Solo retreats from the battlefield after defeat, but the heroes decide to keep fighting until they can safely infiltrate the ship. Hayato was beaten, but he was suddenly clashing again with his other personality and flees the battle. They find the hatch, but decide to try and contact Urashima to see if she made it. She did, but wasn't too pleased about the unexpected crash. She's making repairs to the Dragonturtle and is below the battleship. She decides to make a call since she can't make it right now. They follow Hiryu into the ship's interior and the heroes get to work on destroying the Development Dock and the Engine Room. While it won't destroy it, it'll at least cripple it and make it unusable to anyone else. Segata gets out some explosives and they begin setting them up while the others do the same in the central engine room. Basel, Cardinal Garigliano's office The cardinal converses with Ouma about the chains appearing in Basel, and they agree to deal with them. He gives them a warning about the sprites appearing this time of year. Balrog After resurfacing, they wait for their contact but the bombs suddenly go off and their stuck between the sky and fire. Just then, a loudspeaker is heard and Miyuki shows up. She was the one Urashima called to help them out. She can't get any closer due to the Balrog's increased speed. Hiryu figures out a way to enter the ship: a catapult used to launch planes. He jumps up after launch and Miyuki's plane sucked him in. Crazy as it is, the heroes didn't have much choice as they got on group by group. Air Inn Everyone got onboard safely, and the Balrog is in an explosive heap. Urashima detected gold chain energy from below them, meaning that Ouma was likely headed there. They decide to do a bit of shopping while the repairs to the Dragonturtle are being made. Party Members Note: Only 10 Pair Units allowed Pair Units Ryu & Ken Chun-Li & Xiaoyu Dante & Vergil Chris & Jill Demitri & Morrigan X & Zero Hiryu & Hotsuma *required* Akira & Kage Maru Ichiro & Erica Sakura & Gemini Kiryu & Majima Zephyr & Leanne Jin & Kazuya Yuri & Flynn Ciel & Nana Kite & Haseo Reiji & Xiaomu KOS-MOS & Fior Chrom & Lucina Solo Units Axel June Captain Commando Phoenix & Maya Ingrid Alisa Estelle Segata Pai Valkyrie Ulala Leanne Leon Natsu Aty Felicia Ryo Heihachi Hibana Enemies Carol x4 Brenda x2 Solo Tong Pooh (Gear: Green Chinese Outfit) Zygote x2 Fallen Zygote (F) Ogretail x2 Fallen Ogretail Dreadpike x3 Vajra (Gear: Chimera Mane) Marduk (Gear: Mars Mane) Abaddon *leaves the map 5 turns after it appears* Tyrant T-002 x2 Super Tyrant x2 God Arc Soldier x2 Rampaging God Arc Soldier x2 Mettaur D2 x4 Vector x4 Kurohagane a B. Hayato (Gear: Plasma Gun) Kyoukashinobi Kusa x2 Kyoukashinobi Ouzutsu x2 Items Strange Coffee, Omnipotent Soda Trivia * The Flying Battleship Balrog is the setting of the 4th stage in Strider 2, a massive flying airship created by the followers of Grandmaster Meio and capable of flight through a mysterious energy (the original used an anti-gravity device). Hiryu infiltrated it, destroyed its Reactor Core and escaped on its captain's escape ship. * Some of the characters in Project X Zone 2 show familiarity with the experience because Namco X Capcom featured the original Balrog from the first Arcade Strider, and the cast has to escape it using a similar method with the airship's catapults. Hiryu is the one suggesting this in both games. * Hibana arrives at the Balrog on top of a black stealth plane surrounded by enemies from Nightshade, this is a reference to that game's first stage, where Hibana has to fend off several enemies while riding on top of a stealth plane in mid-flight. * The explosives Segata got out were similar to the ones Kurt Irving used to destroy the Gain Ground statues in Project X Zone. These explosives are based on the explosives featured in Sega's 1989 Arcade game Crack Down. * When the characters plant bombs on the Balrog, they briefly visit the airship's Development Dock and Reactor Core, the 4th and 5th areas from the Strider 2 stage respectively. Category:PXZ2 Chapter